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Violinist Ruth Rogers' blog from the Thai-Burmese border - Part Two

Ruth Rogers, Victoria Sayles, Rose Redgrave and Katherine Jenkinson are playing string quartets to Burmese refugees on the Thai-Burma border. This is their second blog entry for The Strad website, written by Ruth Rogers

Today has been another extraordinary and remarkable day for us.
We set off this morning for the Mae La refugee camp on the border,
stopping off to buy 20 industrial-sized tins of biscuits for the
thousand or so children we were going to play for! We were all a
little anxious about how we would feel when confronted by a refugee
camp - particularly one that has been there for 20 years and which
provides a supposedly 'temporary' home for around 50,000 people.
This was a potentially depressing place to visit. The reality was
that it was full of hope and promise.

When we arrived, we were taken to visit the care-home for
handicapped people in the camp. These are all people who have
suffered horribly in landmine explosions and have lost their
eyesight, or some of their limbs, or in many cases both. They
greeted us warmly and we played to them, desperately trying to
bring a little light into their dark hut. They sang for us,
accompanied by a guitar and we all struggled not to cry. What has
happened to these people seems so painfully unnecessary.

We then played to an enormous group of children of all ages from
a school in the camp - there were around a thousand kids and it was
a fairly chaotic event! But just like yesterday they really
listened when we played and music seemed to grab their attention
and hold it in an astounding way. They were quite shy to come
forward to volunteer for the games but this may just be because
there were so many people watching. Even as a performer I felt
rather overwhelmed by the numbers, so frankly I don't blame
them!

Later we were led to a theological college in the camp and as we
arrived we witnessed the most fantastic rendition by the students
of the 'Hallelujah' chorus of Handel's Messiah. It was heartfelt,
full-blooded and musical and we all commented on how their chorus
had such a fine core of sound. It was absolutely unaccompanied and
I only realised this hours later - I didn't notice that anything
was missing at the time. (Anyway, as a violinist I find Handel's
Messiah far too exhausting to perform so would encourage all future
performances to be 'a cappella'!) We played a small recital to the
students, including the slow movement of Dvorak's 'American'
Quartet and a movement of Haydn, as well as some 'lollipops'. When
we played Faure's Pavane I asked one young man how it made him
feel. He described being on a long road on his own and then finding
someone to share the journey with; it made him feel peaceful and
hopeful.

We were presented with four matching pieces of Karen traditional
costume and we all put them on straight away, delighted at the
warmth and welcome of these people. We said goodbye and I promised
myself that I would come back to see these people again. They are
inspiring (I wish that I could convey how rewarding this is, but
words seem so hollow when I try to express what I would like to
say).

This evening we gave another short concert for leaders of the
Karen National Union and for children at a migrant care-home.
Everywhere we go, music is a universal language that everyone can
understand without the need for translation, a language that
reaches out to people who cannot otherwise be reached. The people
we have met are full of hope and perseverance. The world would
truly be a better place if everyone could meet these refugees.

Mindfulness is an invaluable tool for teaching students how to concentrate on-stage, improve awareness in the practice room, play pain-free, and move on from disappointing auditions or performance experiences, writes Dr. Travis Baird